I know this is one of those “how long’s a piece of string” questions, but based on the below info, how long would you expect bearings to last?

– Riding 1-2 times a week (typical trail centre stuff).
– bike stored indoors and dry.
– not been taken to the Alps or anything like that.

Basically, I’ve noticed that the bottom pivot bearings (near BB) have a bit of play in them. I’ve only had the frame since late May, but I’m not sure what the life expectancy of something like this is.

I also just replaced the lower bushings in the shock with TF Tuned heavy duty ones as they wore out.

oh and for reference, the bike is a Bird Aeris mk 1.5

Ta.

Depends.

Yep Rorschach, I expected as much 🙂

Might be time to invest in a bearing tool.

Seems odd to me, I would expect to change less than once a year with your riding. Perhaps the bearing was faulty / fit poor from the get go.

Hmm, maybe. I’m going to have a look this week to see if there’s any obvious signs.

I’d be annoyed if I needed to replace bearings after less than 6 months use at those levels.

Have you had a chat with Ben at Bird?

Si

What is the play? Have you taken it apart and had a look to see whats going on

– Riding 1-2 times a week (typical trail centre stuff).
– bike stored indoors and dry.
– not been taken to the Alps or anything like that.

For your 3 things…
The riding is more important than the storage in some ways? Was it muddy or gritty? Long rides in wet/gritty stuff will wear more than short rides.
At times storing the bike is where nothing moves so no wear.
If you have grit etc. trapped in the bearings and not coming out then it’s not going to get better.
Alps unless it’s morzine is probably very low wear.

+1 Depends

Your riding, the terrain, weather and conditions, how you wash it or not, the frame pivot design, how often you service or not.

My Santa Cruz Nomad would typically be indicating new lower link pivot bearings after a year for my use. One of the reasons why Santa Cruz offer a lifetime bearing warranty as they know they eat bearings a bit.

Though a weekend in the Alps using their high pressure hoses (yeah, I know) to wash serious crud off, wrecked my bearings in one go, even when trying to avoid the bearing areas.

Bird though should be pretty good on bearings. Not heard of them being an issue.

Calling Ben…

I’ve got an aeris(probably mk1 frame) and been riding mine at least twice a week, since I have had it which is just over a year now. Only just changed the lower shock bush the other week. I have had to nip the bolt up on the pivot bearing a couple of times but the bearing still seems to be running fine.

Cheers for all the feedback guys.

I ride it in all weathers and if it’s been a wet/muddy one, I wash and dry it as best as I can.

I’ve not contacted Bird yet as I just wanted to see what was considered normal. I don’t like asking for things if it’s not justified 🙂

I checked the bolts and they are very tight, so I just need to undo and have a look to see the condition of the bearings. You can feel the movement when you pick the bike up slightly.

I put my hand over every pivot and found the offending one.

6 months on an orange five, 9 on the liteville. It’s night riding that kills them for me. I tend to use a muc off style prewash as the bucket is filling.

I’m finding repacking them is helping a lot

Mine have lasted 6 years so far. Only replaced the ones in my rocker at the weekend as they were getting a bit rough but all my other bearings are still running smooth.

It’s ridden at least once a week (30km ish) come rain or shine, local trails are pretty sandy so there’s lots of grit to sneek into all the nooks and crannies. I generally don’t wash my bike and just brush it off as it comes out of the garage for the following ride, I have never knowingly lubed the bearings.

On my third set of bearings this year on the Reign. Ride the bike once a week for between 15-30miles (3500-5000ft)
-First set lasted 4 months of riding (plenty of mud, grit, water)
-Second set did a month of riding before Mega/Morzine, wet week in morzine meant lots of pressure washing, so some of the bearings needed repacking with grease.
-Third set I’ve just fitted (Brand X enduro copies), flushed the grease out that came with them and packed with Mobil XHP222. Normally I buy a mid spec bearing, but this time wen’t with something I percieve to be technically better, only time will tell!

Bearing life is a tricky one, I do quite a lot of descending on steep/rough tracks in all weathers, with the group I ride with we are all getting through frame bearings in 4-6months.
-Quality of grease (mobil xhp222 is very good)
-Quality of bearing, cheap bearings arn’t as well sealed and the grease isn’t as good or often there at all!
-Maintenance, high pressure hoses will blow grease out and water will get past the seals. Ditto with detergents, water will get most of the muck off, keep the detergents to the drivetrain.
-Poor frame alignment will chew through bearings (my old Intense Socom was terrible!)

I generally don’t wash my bike and just brush it off as it comes out of the garage for the following ride, I have never knowingly lubed the bearings.

This +1 – Brush the crap off before you ride, every now & then give it a good going over with baby wipes, very rarely wash it, increases bearing life massively

Wash my bike once a year with a brush. Still on 2008 bearings on an Ibis Mojo.

Laziness finally pays off.

Hmm, it seems to vary massively. I’ll just bite the bullet and order some bearings. I don’t think it’s an issue I should bother Bird with really?

I wouldn’t be able to sit on the bike never mind pedal it if it hadn’t seen a hose. I envy the people that can just brush the muc off